Capsizing burglar-alarm



(No Model.)

- 0. T. WELCH.

, UAPSIZING BURGL AR ALARM.

No. 558,886. Patented Apr. 21, 1896.

ANDREW E GRAHAM, PHOTO-LITHO. WASHI NGTON. D C

NITE STATES ATENT Orricn,

ORRIN T. IVELOH, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.

CAPSIZING BURG LAR-ALARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,886, dated April21, 1896. Application filed July 1,1895. Serial No. 554,788. (No modelflTo all whom it may concern:

Be-it known that I, ORRIN T. \VELGH, a citizen of the United States,residing at T0- peka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Burglar-Alarms;- and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to alarms, but more particularly to thoseemployed fornotifying the occupants of dwelling-houses of the presenceof burglars or other trespassers.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an alarm which may beplaced in any convenient position so that a burglar or other trespasserwill tilt or overturn the same, and thereby operate suitable mechanismto cause the ringing of a bell, which will continue to make a noiseuntil the mechanism has been properly reset.

Another object is to provide simple and effective mechanism which willreadily permit the bell or alarm to be sounded when disturbed and whichmaybe inclosed within a suitable casing, requiring the removal of aportion thereof before the mechanism can be returned to its normalposition.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby themechanism may be positively held to prevent the ringing of the bell orto retain the mechanism in such position that the bell will continue toring till the spring is unwound.

-With these and other objects in view the invention consists in theconstruction and combination of the several parts, substantially ashereinafter described, and then particularly defined in the claims atthe end of the description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is an elevation of the alarm in its normalposition. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view taken on the line II II ofFigs. 1 and 3, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is avertical sectional view, partly in elevation, taken on the line III IIIof Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the alarmreleasing and stopping mechanism.

lever to swing in any direction.

In the drawings, A may designate a suitable casing having, preferably,an annulus or ring a secured to its upper portion, on which is arrangedthe frame a for holding the alarm or bell-ringing mechanism. Thismechanism may be of the usual or any preferred construction, having thestem or shaft Z), to which is secured one end of the spring I), theother end being secured to the stud b of the frame a, the said springbeing prevented from unwinding without sounding an alarm by the usualratchet-wheel and pawl, which are secured to the stem 1) and thegear-wheel Z1 respectively, the gear-wheel b being in mesh with apinionwhich operates the escapementwheel 12 At If is an anchor-post carryingthe anchor Z)", the pallets or ends of which engage the teeth of thewheel b and has arranged near its lowerend a rod provided with a hammerN, which vibrates with the movement of the anchor I) in the usual andwell-known manner.

The stem or shaft b may have rigidly secured to its outer end thealarm-bell 13 above which and separated therefrom by a washer orotherwise is a guard b secured to the stem 79 by a screw-thread and anut b or in any other suitable manner. The guard b may be solid, asshown, or may have portions thereof removed to form an open framework,and serves as a ready means by which the spring may be wound and topermit the bell to prop erly respond by preventing said bell from comingin contact with any object either while handling or when the alarm istilted.

For automatically releasing the escapement, so as to ring the bell whenthe alarm is tilted, I preferably provide a weighted lever or pendulum0, provided with a ball 0 near its upper end, arranged in a socket orbearing in a bracket or suitable support 0 secured to the ring a or tothe casing or alarm-mechanism frame a, the said ball-andsocket joint ofthe weighted lever serving to permit the The lever or pendulum c has aweight 0 secured to its lower end, and may have its upper end slightlyrounded and adapted to contact withthe inner end (Z of an arm d, whichis pivoted at (l to a bracket or support 61. The arm (1 may have thelower surface of its inner end rounded and its outer end bifurcated, soas to embrace the lower end of a vertically-slidable rod (1 and may beprevented from being disengaged therefrom by a pin (1 secured to thelower end of said rod. This rod has its ends slidingly held in aperturesin the frame a and is provided with a disk or collar (1 near its upperend, which is rigidly secured to said rod or formed integrallytherewith, as desired. The collar d is normally pressed upward by aspring d arranged between the lower plate of the frame a and the collard! of the rod (1 the said collar being adapted to contact with a leveror detent e, projecting outward from the anchor-post b, when the rod dis forced downward by the arm d, as shown in the drawings, to preventvibratory movement of the anchor b and to release said anchor when thespring d raises the collar out of the path of movement of the lever e.

The weighted lever or pendulum c has its Weight 0 provided with a recessin its lower end, in which is slidingly held a rod or stem f, having aspring f, which surrounds said stem and normally presses the same downward. The stem f is guided in the weight 0 by a pin f which pin issecured to said stem and is arranged so as to work or slide in a slot fin the weight, the said stem being adapted to engage the upper edge of aflange f which latter is preferably circular and may form a portion ofthe casingAwhen the pendulum is forced to one side, as shown in dottedlines in Fi 3, or when the alarm is tilted 'sufficiently the same resultwill be produced, owing to the pendulum tending to constantly assume avertical position. In the position shown in dotted lines the arm d willbe released, thereby permitting the alarm mechanism to ring the bell,which ringing will continue until the pendulum is again'brought to itsnormal position, as indicated in full lines in the drawings, which, inthis case, can only be accomplished by removing the bottom f of thecasingA and raising the stem fabove the edge of the flange f of saidcasing. The bottom f may be secured to the casin g in any preferredmanner; but I preferably provide the same with a screw-threaded portionwhich engages screw-threads in the casing, as this will consume a littletime to remove said bottom, thereby permitting the alarm to be wellsounded before the mechanism can be reset.

When it is desired to place the alarm away during the day and when notin use, it is preferable to provide some means for holding the pendulumin a fixed position, so that the alarm may be prevented from beingaccidentally sounded. For this purpose two fingers or fasteners g arepreferably provided, which are piy oted to opposite sides of the casingA and have their ends adapted to e11- gage and partly surround theweight 0 as shown in Fig. 2). These fingers may be provided witheccentrieally-pivoted polygonal portions g, against which the ends ofsprings 9 contact to hold the said fingers either in a raised position,as shown in dotted lines, or in the position shown in full lines, thoughit is obvious that any other means may be employed for holding thefingers in either of said positions, if found desirable. Projectingthrough the casing from the portions g are the handles 9 adapted tocontact with said casing when the fingers g are either raised orlowered, and which serve as a convenient means to raise or lower saidfingers to release or hold the pendulum in a fixed position.

The upper portion ofthe weight a is prefer-- ably tapered, so that theends of the fingers will readily pass over the body portion of theweight when said fingers are lowered.

The operation and manner of using the alarm will be readily understoodfrom the foregoing description.

The fingers g of the alarm being raised, as shown in dotted lines inFig. 3, and the device placed in a convenient position, so as to bereadily tilted or overturned, it will be seen in the position shown,which is the normal position, that the upper end of the pendulum cengages the inner end of the arm d and forces the rod d downward againstthe tension of the spring (1 causing the collar (1 of said rod to engagethe lever b of the anchor 2), thereby preventing the operation of thealarm or bell-ringing mechanism. As soon as the casing is tilted oroverturned the pendulum will cant to one side until the stem f ridesover the upper edge of the flange f, in which position it will be heldby the spring f, which normally presses the stem downward, as shown indotted lines. This move ment of the pendulum releases the arm (1 andpermits the spring at to force the rod (1* upward, thereby carrying thecollar d out of the path of movement of the lever e of the anchor I), soas to permit the operation of the alarm mechanism, and consequently theringing of the bell. The bell will continue to ring until the spring isunwound or the bottom of the casing f is removed, when the pendulum maybe again brought to the position shown in full lines and the fingersthrown down, as shown, to hold the pendulum stationary. The alarm maynow be set aside, or it may be rewound by holding the casing in one handand turning the guard U with the other until the spring I) is fullywound, when it may be again placed in position for use, if desired.

I preferably make the casing oval or shaped, so that it may be readilytilted,though, if found desirable, it maybe made in any other preferredform. The position of the bell and the construction of the alarmmechanism may be changed, or the vertically-slidable rod may engage thebell-ringing mechanism in any other suitable manner than that shown. Thearm d may be made to work the vertically-slidable rod (1 both ways-as,for instance, a spring may be arranged to tilt said arm in onedirection, while the pendulum tilt-s the rods in the other.

IIO

Other changes of substantially the same character may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. I11 a device of the character described, the combination with acasing and mechanism for ringing an alarm, of a pendulum provided with aball-and-socket connection with the casing, mechanism operated by thependulum for releasing and stopping the alarm mechanism, together withmeans carried by the pendulum adapted to engage a portion of the casingso as to retain the pendulum in a tilted position, substantially asdescribed.

2. In an alarm, the combination with a casing provided with anupwardlyextending flange at the lower portion thereof, of mechanism forringing a bell, a pendulum adapted to swing to the side of the casing,mechanism operated by the pendulum for releasing and stopping thebell-ringin g mechanism,together with a spring-pressed stem carried-bysaid pendulum adapted to engage the upper edge of the flange of saidcasing so as to hold the pendulum to one side thereof, substantially asdescribed.

3. In an alarm, the combination with a portable tilting casing andsuitable mechanism arranged therein for ringing a bell, of a slidablerod held normally in engagement with a portion of said mechanism toprevent move ment thereof,an arm pivoted within the easing and engagingthe rod, means located within the casing for automatically operatin gsaid arm to release said bell-rin gin g mechanism when the casing istilted, together with means for returning said slidable rod to itsnormal position, substantially as described.

4. In an alarm, the combination with a casing and mechanism for ringinga bell, of a pendulum adapted to swing to the side of the casing, andmechanism operated by the pendulum for releasing and stopping saidbellringing mechanism; said casing being provided with a removablebottom for inclosing the bell releasing and stopping mechanism and toprevent the alarm from being stopped until said bottom is removed,substantially as described.

5. In an alarm, the combination with a casing and a bell arranged onsaid casing, of a stem, a spring having one of its ends secured to saidstem, mechanism operated by the spring for ringing said bell, a guardfor the bell secured to the stem and adapted to serve as a means forwinding said spring, and a pendulum arranged within the casing forautomatically releasing the bell ringing mechanism when said casing istilted; said casing being provided with a removable bottom for inclosingthe bell releasing and stopping mechanism and to prevent the alarm frombeing stopped until said bottom is removed, substantially as described.

In an alarm, the combination with mechanism for ringing a bell, of avertically-slidable rod adapted to engage a portion of said mechanism toprevent movement thereof, an arm having one end engaging said rod, apendulum having one of its ends adapted to contact with the arm to lowerthe rod, together with a spring for raising said rod so as to releasethe bell-ringing mechanism, substantially as described.

7. In an alarm, the combination with a casing and mechanism for ringinga bell, of a pendulum adapted to swing to the side of the casing,mechanism operated by the pendulum for releasing and stopping thebell-ringing mechanism, together with fingers pivoted to the side of thecasing adapted to hold the pendulum in a predetermined position,substantially as described.

8. In an alarm, the combination with a casin g having substantially theform of an oval or egg, of a bell arranged on said casing, mechanism forringing said bell, a pendulum adapted to swing to the side of thecasing, mechanism operated by the pendulum adapted to stop or releasethe bell-ringing mechanism, means carried by said pendulum adapted toengage a portion of the casing to hold the pendulum to one side thereof,together with a removable bottom on said casing to permit the pendulumto be released, substantially as described.

9. In an alarm, the combination with a casing and a bell arranged onsaid casing, of an escapement-wheel, mechanism for operating said wheel,an anchor engaging the escapement-wheel, a lever projecting outwardlyfrom the anchor, a vertically-slidable rod adapted to engage said lever,an arm pivoted to the casing and having one of its ends engaging saidslidable rod, together witha pendulum arranged to swing to one side ofthe casing and having one of its ends adapted to contact with the innerend of the pivoted arm, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ORRIN T. WELOI-I. \Vitnesses FRED. F. MATTHAEI, MAUI) WELcH.

